Card mangling and destroying in baccarat. Why?

[BlueBear]

Can anybody here explain why players squeeze, mangle, fold and destroy the dealt cards in baccarat? From the psychological perspective, are there any reasons for doing so?

I witness it in the casinos but can't think of a good explanation of why they do it other than it is a "cultural" thing. From my perspective of a poker player who never wastes time squeezing the my hole cards, playing baccarat in this fashion seems nothing but irrational.

[Wired Jokers]

Because ploppies are just plain stupid. That's the best answer I can give. The better question is why do these (usually) highly educated people that play baccarat use pencil and paper to "track" the hands.

I wish I owned a casino. [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]

[Iceman]

[ QUOTE ]
Can anybody here explain why players squeeze, mangle, fold and destroy the dealt cards in baccarat? From the psychological perspective, are there any reasons for doing so?

I witness it in the casinos but can't think of a good explanation of why they do it other than it is a "cultural" thing. From my perspective of a poker player who never wastes time squeezing the my hole cards, playing baccarat in this fashion seems nothing but irrational.

[/ QUOTE ]

They throw the cards out after every shoe anyway, so it really doesn't matter.

[other1]

I'm pretty sure this is the effect and not the cause.

[eobmtns]

They don't have golf clubs??